Quilt delivery

I finished a couple more quilts to make a total of a dozen quilts to take to Dr. Kaufman.  They do make a colorful pile!

This is one I put together myself from donated blocks.  

And this is another one of Yetta's.  I still have a few more tops to quilt that I brought home from the retreat in Phoenix.

Taking a bit of a break from quilting to help older daughter move into a new (to them) home.  

National Quilting Day

I've been celebrating appropriately.  I got binding on a quilt this morning and got my last two finishes washed.

I had just the right backing for this lovely oriental quilt from Yetta.  

Patty E. (we had five Pats at retreat this year) put together this wonderful snowman quilt while at retreat.  

I had the last piece of this snowflake flannel, and I bordered it with another flannel print which features tiny skiers.  

I did a freehand linear design with some swirls--trying to make it look like blowing snow!  I have a great snowflake panto, but I just couldn't quilt over the appliqued snowmen!

I got one more quilt loaded and quilted, and I'm ready to go on one more.  Thanks to all my friends for all their wonderful tops!

  

Freehand work

I generally do pantos.  I love the variety and the ease of just following a design.  The hardest part for me of doing freehand work is deciding on what to do where.  


I took a couple of classes at Craftsy with Angela Walters, and also listened to her lecture at Quiltcon which was available free on Craftsy.  I really needed to practice.

This quilt that Carolyn gave me at retreat was the perfect venue.  It was small enough that I wasn't overwhelmed with doing freehand work.  (I quickly get overwhelmed with larger quilts and filling all that space.)

 I'm satisfied with how it turned out.  I still need practice, practice, practice to get more comfortable with it.  

This quilt I made myself with "crumb" blocks.  I realized (too late) that my sashings kind of got lost with the busy blocks, but it's done.  

I used a plain backing and contrasting thread on the back with a great frog pantograph from Dave Hudson.  They were easy to see before washing the quilt...but you can still pick them out!  

 

Some finishes

I have been steadily finishing the quilts that I got while at the retreat in Phoenix.  Most of them were finished tops and just need quilting and binding, my favorite parts.

This one, I added more novelty rows and strips to make it a little longer.  Thanks Ethel.  It's a great length now for a teenager.

Dee makes wonderful "I Spy" quilts, and she gave me two tops.  Her work is exceptional and I used a flannel sheet with Cars characters for backing.

I oriented the quilts sideways on the sheet, and was able to get them both on a single sheet.  I'm sure the kids--and I think both of these would work for boys--won't mind!  Thanks so much Dee!

These all finished in between a myriad of dental appointments.  Ugh!  Fortunately I have a wonderful new dentist, and she is very skilled and has gone a long way to reverse my previous bad experiences as a kid.  Let's hope these repairs last the rest of my life!